25 Days of Gifts: Deal of the Day

All year long you have to deal with a deluge of daily emails from every business you’ve ever visited. It’s pretty annoying, until Christmas that is, at which time those pesky ads turn into the simplest way to finish your shopping list.

A lot of the emails you get from retailers are for stores where you bought something once, but will never shop there again. Maybe it was a specialty store or even a store that bought your information and is now polluting your inbox. These emails can be deleted without even opening (in fact, go ahead and hit unsubscribe on those right now…I’ll wait).

There are a few retailers, however, that send really great deals out every day – good enough to actually open. I tend to sign up for the high-end stores to get more bang for my discounted buck, but there really isn’t a trick to finding the best store for email deals. Just pick the stores where you like to shop, and you’re going to get just as excited as me when you see deals on their goods.

If you aren’t getting emails already from your favorite retailers, go sign up now (then you can just unsubscribe on December 26 if you want). You can set up a separate email account if the idea of more emails coming to your personal email is not appealing, then you can just check it when you choose. Or you can commit to five minutes at the end of every day to delete all the emails at once. If you are hunting for a bargain though, it doesn’t get any easier than this. It’s like setting up a deer feeder at your front door, then picking them off from your rocking chair. (Sorry if that reference bothered those of you who didn’t grow up in a hunting family – unrelated tip of the day: deer meat is delicious)

Pottery Barn is my favorite daily email. Over the course of the month, you’re going to have the chance to get almost all of their great gifts on sale. These deals sell out fast, so check the email first thing in the morning. If you are interested in the product, don’t spend too much time thinking about it – act immediately. It’ll be worth it just for the chance to get one of their cozy throws (HINT – there are a few on sale today with free shipping)

Another favorite of mine is Williams-Sonoma. Today’s deal: Le Creuset is on sale plus free shipping. I got a little giddy when I saw this one. My kitchen has been noticeably lacking in Le Creuset for too long now. Wait, this is supposed to be shopping for other people isn’t it? Sometimes I have to remind myself….

More online tips:

Before you complete your purchase, do a quick search for a coupon code. Most of the time when I do this, I get an extra savings.

Here is a guide for last days to ship and still receive your merchandise by Christmas – don’t wait until the last minute!